Advertisement

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content continued

Sahar surveys the contents of his new business with a content yet reasoned smile.

“I’m my own boss now. That’s good. I’m just getting used to it right now,” he said.

Before his foray into meat portioning, the Afghan-Canadian had “a desk job” as an architectural technologist — telling framers where to place beams and joints for residential buildings.

“I needed a change, so that’s why I moved on. It was a better opportunity so I took it,” he said.

What type of demand is the former desk worker up against during the 29-30 day period?

“Meat demand increases during Ramadan. All items’ demand increases between 40 and 60 per cent in a normal day,” said Muhammad Anjum, finance director at the Faizan-e-Madina Islamic Centre.

Advertisement

Story continues below

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content continued

Besides breaking fast communally at a mosque each evening — known in Arabic as Iftar — Anjum said families and friends are doing the same at home too, further pushing demand for permissible — Halal — meat.

“In the evenings we have approximately 100 people attending Iftar,” he said.

Demand is especially high during the last 10 days of Ramadan — considered the holiest days of the month — when men live secluded in the mosque for meditation.

Anjum said his northeast Calgary mosque is small in comparison to the city’s larger ones.

“I will say the bigger places like the southwest they might have more people staying there, but our place is smaller. So I will say 15 to 20 people will stay for the last 10 days permanently,” he said.

Advertisement

Story continues below

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content continued

New business owner Masse Sahar is excited to start a new venture as a Halal grocer, despite no past experience. Sahar stands in his store in Calgary, Alta. June 16, 2015.Evan Radford/Calgary Herald

Sahar knows he’ll be pushed to his limits: on top of learning all the cuts of meat, learning how to cut them, ordering just the right amount of meat and practising good customer service, he’ll be fasting each day for the whole month.

He’s resolute in dealing with those challenges. He just needs to overcome his one fear.

“I’m getting better. I’m terrified of the saw, though. (It could) cut off your hand in one second,” he said.

There’s the pace, too.

More customers will mean more demands for different cuts of meat, some of which Sahar may have to do on the spot.

“That takes time, you know. But I have to work faster because other people are waiting. That kind of workload,” he said.

Advertisement

Story continues below

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content continued

He’ll likely enlist his parents and older brother to help out.

If he makes it past Eid-al-Fitr — the end of Ramadan celebration that entails even bigger communal meals — he knows what’s next: putting his own touch on his new shop.

“We could make work more efficient for wait times. Some people stand here and then go, cause of the workload and stuff. We’d like to make the work efficient through online ordering.

“We’re gonna digitize a lot of things. My mentality and (the last owner’s) are quite different. Younger generation,” he said.

The young grocer certainly knows his work is cut out for him. There’s a mosque right behind his shop.

Share this article in your social network

Share this Story: Newbie meat cutter jumps into the deep end for Ramadan

Trending

Related Stories

This Week in Flyers

Article Comments

Comments

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

Notice for the Postmedia Network

This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.